The NBI’s focus on the role of business in schooling has both a programmatic and a strategic component, through the Education Quality Improvement Partnerships (EQUIP) programme and the facilitation of a dialogue between business and government on the role of business in schooling respectively.
The EQUIP programme supports government in the implementation of its education quality improvement programmes and policies, by building the capacity of schools to develop into strong and viable institutions with sound and strategically designed development plans.
These partnerships offer partner schools access to “best practice” in school leadership, governance and curriculum delivery. The programme also provides a forum for strategic dialogue between government, educationalists and business to address general educational challenges. EQUIP embraces sustainability by ensuring that schools take responsibility for their own development, and works in partnership with the education departments at various levels to ensure that investment in the schools is sustained beyond the exit phase.
High on its list of critical objectives is the aim of assisting schools to take responsibility for their own progression towards self-reliance and the delivery of quality teaching and learning. The programme also includes the professional development of selected educators in the areas of Mathematics and Science, and in some instances, Technology and Literacy.
A small grant is given to schools in the course of their three-year relationship with EQUIP. This serves as an incentive to draft and to promote the implementation of school development plans.
The programme has a nationwide reach and has been implemented in close to 500 schools in eight provinces. EQUIP has been supported by over 40 companies and funded to the tune of more than R50 million over the past thirteen years. More than 550 000 learners, 15 000 teachers and support staff, 5 000 principals, deputy principals and heads of departments as well as over 4 500 school governing body members have benefited from the programme. It is currently being implemented in 86 schools in Gauteng, Western Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the Northern Cape and the North West Province.
To date, 406 teachers and school managers have participated in the accredited two-year teacher development programme and graduated from leading South African universities with professional teaching qualifications in the areas of Mathematics, Science and Technology and School Leadership and Management.
Since its inception in 1995, EQUIP has achieved a number of long-term improvements in schools and, as one of the original whole school development programmes in the country, it has contributed significantly to the following:
- Establishment of lasting public private partnerships: Since its inception, EQUIP has operated on the basis of equal, mutual and beneficial partnerships between the custodians of public education in South Africa, i.e. the provincial education departments and funding companies and corporates, through facilitation by the NBI;
- The stabilisation of schools in the period of transition in a sector in which at worst chaos, and at best indifference had virtually become the norm since the late seventies;
- Introduction and implementation of the concept of school development: EQUIP has been one of the early pioneers of school development planning, a concept that has since become national policy and practice; and
- EQUIP often led the way in the analysis, interpretation and implementation of policies, in the areas of the departments’ Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS), Norms and Standards for School Funding and the National Curriculum Statements.
EQUIP News
- Celebrating the acquisition of new knowledge: Sixty EQUIP teachers graduated on 31 March 2009 with Advanced Certificates in Education at the Humanities Graduation Ceremony at University of the Witwatersrand in the following fields:
FET Mathematics |
4 |
GET Mathematics |
24 |
FET Mathematics Literacy |
16 |
GET Science |
16 |
- Linking schools and learners with the world of work: An exciting new partnership has been forged with the Wholesale & Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&RSETA) through IKUSASA, a pilot project aimed at equipping previously disadvantaged grade 12 learners with the knowledge, skills and experience to work in the wholesale and retail sector after they have obtained the National Seniior Certificate(NSC). Ten learners from Isilimela Comprehensive School in Langa (Western Cape) participated in the project and were placed with retailers for employment upon successful completion of the NSC. The pilot proved to be so successful and the W&RSETA has decided to implement IKUSASA nationally, initially targeting EQUIP schools, because, in the words of Lana van der Westhuizen, Western Cape Regional Manager, “EQUIP schools are such a pleasure to work with because they have all the systems in place and they are able to respond professionally to initiatives like these.”
- Organisations do not develop; people do: Kayamandi High in the Western Cape received the ministerial award for a pass rate of 86% and for increasing the number of university endorsements from 5% in 2007 to 17% in 2008. The pass rate in 2007 was 69%. One of their learners, Lwando Lenga, distinguished himself by achieving six distinctions and scoring 100% in Mathematics. He is currently studying Medicine at University of Cape Town.
There was negativity when the EQUIP programme commenced in 2006 and the NBI was warned by the district, non-governmental organisations and even community leaders that this school was beyond salvage. However, during an awards ceremony hosted in November 2008, Pat Hani, deputy principal responsible for curriculum management at the school, said: “When EQUIP came into the school we were indeed a dysfunctional school. But as I am standing here before you, I can proudly declare that we are now a fully functional school, we know what we have to do and I can promise you that the 2008 results will show that we have made great progress.” The aforementioned results prove her case.
- International research agrees that if you want “to change an organisation you must get the leadership right”: Nobantu Pasiya, head of the Cape Teachingand Leadership Institute (CTLI), describes the agreement between the NBI and CTLI to enhance the leadership and management capacity of middle managers in EQUIP schools in the Western Cape as a good example of a public private partnership that yields results. From 2005 till now, more than 150 middle managers from EQUIP schools in the Western Cape graduated from the CTLI. The course material and teacher manual was a joint effort, but an advantages of the NBI programme was the school-based support and monitoring provided by the EQUIP facilitator to track implementation of newly acquired skills and knowledge at school level. Each participant also completed a personal growth plan as part of the IQMS. On 2 April 2009 a further 41 managers and middle managers received certificates from the CTLI. This course was sponsored by the DG Murray Trust.
The course is currently being offered to all Heads of Departments (HoDs) in all existing EQUIP schools. Some training groups include HoDs from non-EQUIP schools at the request of the Western Cape Education Department.
- Similarly, the intensively practice-focused, accredited middle mangement course for HoDs developed jointly by the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance (MGSLM) and NBI-EQUIP has been successfully completed by over 200 HoDs from EQUIP schools in Gauteng. A further 371 HoDs in public schools in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo are currently in the process of registering for the course.
The 2006 EQUIP external impact assessment, released in 2007, confirmed the findings of international studies that education development takes time. It further confirmed that whole school development is a complex process, because a range of interventions at different levels is typically needed in order to bring change in the culture of a school, but found that the EQUIP multi-faceted approach to school development over a period of time does lead to sustainable change.
(Updated September 2009) Publications resulting from these initiatives can be found on our Publications page.
Frequently asked questions about EQUIP